Over 52 passports have disappeared from the District Administration Office, Dhading. Chief District Officer Bed Prasad Kharel said that 52 sets of handwritten passports out of 801 sets kept at DAO’s store after the use of Machine Readable Passport had gone missing.

According to the DAO record, passports bearing the registration numbers from 4829301 to 4829350 and 4829534 and 4829535 have gone missing.

Assistant Chief District Officer Bijay Paudel said that loss of passports was confirmed when they had verified the old goods before shifting them from old to new building seven days ago. A report presented by a two-member committee formed to investigate into the passport loss states that passports were lost owing to staffs’ negligence.

Dhading DAO said it has sent a letter each to Home Ministry, Regional Administration Office and Department of Immigration with details of missing passports.

DAO is questioning Badri Thapa, a former store keeper assigned the duty of taking care of the passports at the old building.

Thapa, however, denied any wrongdoing.

Published on: 18 August 2012 | The Himalayan Times